Who Is Crookshanks?
by The Emerald Oinker
Summary: [complete] Ok, this tale is short and about Crookshanks before he was adopted by Hermione. It sorta comes at the end of Book 3, and has a few quotes from the book. Only 4 pages long, please R/R.


All Cannings C

_(Green_Pig:- Ahh…I have had this story in mind for a long while, since I am all on my own today I thought I'd write it…this is a single chapter story – you must R/R and tell me whether you want to read a sequel to it…it'll probablyhave to be longer because of all the additional info on Sirius Black during book 3, I think I'll have to think of something to write about as Crookshanks was always hanging around with him that year…see what you think of it…^_^_

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**_DISCLAIMER:_**_ All characters and settings are copyright of J.K Rowling, they all belong to her phenomenal Harry Potter series…darn - I was so enjoying this…I'm very proud…_

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**Who Is Crookshanks?**

Ron's eyes widened.The minute owl was still hooting excitedly.

" Keep him?" he said uncertainly.He looked closely at the owl for a moment, then, to Harry and Hermione's great surprise, he held him out for Crookshanks to sniff.

" What d'you reckon?" Ron asked the cat." Definitely an owl?"

Crookshanks purred.

" That's good enough for me," Said Ron happily. " He's mine."

Crookshanks curled his back and slept peacefully. It had been, he reflected, a very good year.At last he had found a good home and found himself in far better company than he had ever dreamed of.Harry Potter, the boy who lived.And then there was this girl, Hermione Granger and their other friend Ron Weasley.Crookshanks wasn't particularly very fond of Ron; the year had been quite a war between him and that boy over that bloody rat, but now that he knew the rodent had been revealed he could live happily with his new found friends…of course…that owl would have to go if it didn't shut up…

Ron was struggling with the owl.

" What do I call it?" He said.

" I looked Hedwig's name up in a book."

" Yes, that's what you should do Ron, look it up in a book."

" Typical reaction I'd expect from you Hermione! Ouch!"Ron laughed before sucking his bitten thumb.

" Put him in Hedwig's cage for now, I'm sure she won't mind the company for today." Harry said getting up and lifting the cage off the floor.Hedwig had been asleep and hooted indignantly as Ron pushed the tiny owl onto the perch next to Harry's Snowy owl.Immediately the baby owl went silent and sat still trying not to look at the company it shared.

" I think he likes her." Ron smiled.Harry and Hermione exchanged unconvinced expressions and rolled their eyes.

Crookshanks had been watching this with interest.At least the owl was quiet now, but at that moment he decided to reflect upon the situation he was in and how he had managed to get there.Crookshanks turned his head to the glowing sun that shined through the train window; he closed his eyes and smiled under that squashed flat face.Hermione began squeaking through her lips.

" Crookshanks…cuddle!"She patted her lap, but the cat paid her no attention and exaggerated his contentment by curling up on his back to expose the soft fluffy belly to the warm sun.

" That cat is fat." Ron said rather bluntly.

" It's just his fur.He's probably really thin under that great mass…Crookshanks! Come here! Come on! Please?"The fluffy ball pawed the air above it and extended its long sharp claws.Still it would not heed her any attention.

" Stubborn git."

" Hermione!" Ron gasped with overwhelming shock.

" I'm not all perfect you know, I can be rude if I very well like can't I?"

" Well, yes."

" We just didn't think you'd say something like that." Harry remarked suddenly bringing himself into the conversation again. " You've been so angry whenever Ron says anything like that."

" Well I don't say things like that all the time."She grinned at Ron who shook his head and muttered something under his breath.The three went silent again, Hermione took out a book from her trunk and began to read, Harry stared out the window with Sirius' letter firmly held in his hand, he glanced down occasionally and smiled.Ron was also looking out the window, but out of plain boredom remembering how only a month ago he had believed Scabbers was just a plain old boring rat with no magical talent.He sighed and realised the definite change in the weight of his pocket, no longer holding his…his old friend…

Crookshanks flipped over suddenly and stepped down to the floor where he stretched and arched his back like a rainbow.He yawned and hopped on the seat beside Hermione, rubbing his nose on her leg affectionately.

" Hello.What do you have to say for yourself mister?"She said picking him up in her arms and cradling him.Crookshanks purred contentedly and pawed her top.

" Ow! Cut it out, that hurts…" Ron looked over to her and smiled, she didn't see the subtle smile of affection Ron gave her, nor did Harry, but Ron was glad because all of a sudden he flushed red and turned his attention back to the disappearing trees, ears going red with sudden embarrassment hoping no–one saw that.

_" Aaah, you see my loyal subjects…a foolish man stands in front of you all…"_

_" Who are you people?"_

_" Silence fool! You are presented to us for spying.You have been passing information to the Ministry and so must be punished!"_

_" I don't know what's going on! What is this Ministry? Who are you, why are you wearing dresses?!"_

_"These are robes! And you are in the presence of very powerful wizards! Stupid muggle filth!"_

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Crookshanks suddenly trembled and scrabbled in Hermione's arms.

" What the hell?!" She screamed angrily as the cat pelted across the room, backing into a corner with his fur all up and his wide golden eyes gleaming with fear.

" What's wrong with him now?" Ron grumbled not bothering to turn his head.Hermione got up and approached Crookshanks who trembled as she picked him back up in her arms.

" There, there darling…what's wrong with you now?"She said nursing him and sitting back down.Crookshanks closed his eyes and tried not to think of that anymore…he couldn't forget though, it was a long time ago, he shouldn't be so scared of it now…but still...those red eyes…the snake-like man before him never left his memory…and that was the night his life had changed forever…

_" See how much better the idiot looks now my faithful friends…?" _

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_He looked ahead through blurred eyes at the assembly; this was so unbelievable.What had they done to him?Who were these people?_

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_" Now he'll never forget how powerful we are, or rather, how powerful I am…" The creature hissed, its hands were so cold around his waist, he couldn't move for fear and confusion._

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_" We'll let him go, no-one will ever know who he really is and the muggles will believe anything…they'll believe him to be kidnapped and murdered – his body lying somewhere in a ditch…but they'll never find him…he'll soon be forgotten and will probably die soon enough…" The creature dropped him uncaringly._

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_" Cats always land on their feet they say…"_

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_He felt air rushing over him, like he was falling at an incredible speed…but he couldn't feel his legs, even though they scrabbled pathetically in the rushing wind._

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_" Maybe not…" He heard the hissing voice smirking high above him as he twitched paws he never would have believed to now be his own, in back aching pain on the cold, hard ground…whimpering with the pain…the shock…the sadness of being entombed in a strange body he couldn't understand or control in a world of evil._

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Crookshanks stirred…he could remember it so clearly now…the night he had been watching the group in the churchyard yet again; he had seen this before and told the police about the strange men in hoods and now, here they were again…talking about killing a family…the Potters wasn't it…the boy Harry's parents…then they had succeeded…they did manage to kill the Potters as they had planned, but not their son Harry…he had watched for an hour and suddenly someone had taken him by the shoulders and pushed me into the ring of men…the person was hooded, they all were, apart from the tallest of the lot.A long, thin, bony looking man with not a head of a human but of a snake…well…snake-like is close enough…red burning slit eyes and nostrils, sharp teeth that glistened every time the thing smiled his cruel horrible smile…then he had changed my life forever…turned me into a cat…and an ugly one too with a squashed face like a Persian…I was dropped from a high bank and the fall was over quickly with me flat on the road…

_There's a sound; like a distant humming of a car approaching… It's stopped…a door is opening… someone's holding me gently under my shoulders and legs, it is a man…my senses are strangely alive, I can tell what shampoo he uses! This is so amazing! …now I'm inside the vehicle and being put on a soft cushioned seat._

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_Inside a warm place…so unbelievable…how could this be…?_

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_" Take him to the animal shelter.Some people like that breed."_

_" Yes. Thank you."_

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_Taken away...the pain is easing…nearly gone…I can feel my body gaining strength…_

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_But I cannot stay here; I must explore my new powers! I have to…_

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_Jumping out of his kind arms and running over the wall, this is so amazing…how easy it is to use this body…so agile…so perfect for escape…I must find someone to help me…I must be human again, there is no use going to a hospital, no-one will understand me…I must find one of those strange people who turned me into this animal…they have spoken before of wizards and witches, the Ministry they said…though it is probably just a load of ridiculous stories, I am willing to believe anything now…Hah! The power in this body, my legs move so freely, I can jump any object, run faster than I used to with half the effort and strangely as I run over these walls, the roofs of a building, I am beginning to feel more and more pleased with what has become of me…_

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_No more job…no more slaving away to get money…life is so simple now…run and eat…eat…I am hungry…so strange that I have such a longing for meat now…but I am a cat after all…so strange to use those words…this is incredible!_

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Crookshanks opened his eyes to look up at Hermione's chin…she knows nothing, that dog-man knew nothing…I merely wanted to get revenge on one of those Death eaters after I found out all that I now know about the secret world of witches and wizards…back then I ran for miles…anywhere…then I found at last, a person who I knew would help me.

_" He-who-must-not-be-named is gaining more and more power everyday…these muggles believe nothing…they don't know the truth…they are lucky to be so ignorant."_

_" Yes…I wish we were all back to the good old days…none of this Dark Lord business…" A second woman said whilst wiping a tear form her eye with a handkerchief._

_" I am so sorry about your loss Hetty…Albert was such a wonderful man…we will all miss him so much…" The other woman began to cry uncontrollably._

_" The Ministry have a spy they say…one that is on the inside of The Dark Lord's closest ring…whoever it is has saved countless lives they say." The sobbing woman nodded._

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_I think I'll venture nearer…these seem like harmless women…witches…amazingly beautiful for I've always been brought up to believe in old hags as witches. They seem to have suffered a loss, but they speak of two important things: muggles and The Ministry…though I do not know what they are…the Ministry is probably some organisation…like the British government…_

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_" Oh look! A cat!Isn't he lovely…?" Hetty opened her tear filled eyes and smiled down at the fluffy orange cat._

_" I will take him."_

_" What?"_

_" He will keep me company…and anyway, he looks starved and lonely…I think he wants me to take him."_

I suddenly realised another skill I had – I could purr, and very loudly too. I skipped up to her and was lifted into her arms, she took me to her home where I stayed for many years…learning about the new world, the secrets of magic, I could read her books when she was away and sogain the knowledge of these people…I soon learned who I had confronted on that night in the churchyard and the frightening thought has stayed with me all these years…I learned about Harry Potter, Sirius Black's imprisonment…all these years I believed him to be the true traitor of Lily and James Potter, until I ran away, I ran away so I can find the famous Albus Dumbledore who could be able to change me back to a human once more after all those years…I went to the famous Diagon alley and entered the magical menagerie shop where I stayed for months, waiting for the right people to take me in…then Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley came…I recognised the rat…I had seen it before…on the night of my dreadful tragedy it was sitting atop a gravestone cleaning its whiskers…this was the moment – I thought…time to get my revenge on one of the Death eaters that had ruined my life…

_Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers._

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_" NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!"cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor and then scarpered for the door._

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_Crookshanks; the name the old witch had given me…no time to think - I must kill the wizard that put this pain on me! Wherever he will run I will get him...I will never leave him to hurt these people ever again!_

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And so I ran.But was stopped just before I reached the door, after the two boys had gone running out – the red-headed one shouting – then Hermione stooped down and picked me up…at once a plan popped into my head…if she was friends with these boys, the one with black hair I was sure to be the famous Harry Potter because I had seen his lightning bolt scar, then she would be always near that rat…the perfect way to get into Hogwarts to see Dumbledore and to get my revenge on that rat would be to go with her, be adopted by her…

So I went with her…I was so pleased to get into Hogwarts I forgot to look for Dumbledore, the castle was magnificent…ahhh, but then I met that Sirius Black didn't I?I'll never forget the year I've had…

Hermione put Crookshanks on the seat and stood.

" Now I have orange hair all over me!" She groaned. " Well that's it, time to get off."Harry and Ron stood up and gathered their things; Ron remembered to remove his new owl from Hedwig's cage and held it gently in his hands.

" How am I gonna explain how I got this to my mum?"He said.

" Just say I paid for it." Harry said.

" You can't say that." Hermione said putting Crookshanks in a pet basket.

" Why not?"

" It would look…I don't know…like you were doing it because of Ron's…because Ron's not as well off as you."

" Hey!" Ron growled. " You're beginning to sound like Malfoy!"

" Sorry Ron…I didn't mean it that way…" Ron muttered grumpily again and left the compartment ahead of them.

" I'll see you next year then Harry." She sighed.

" Yeah…another summer with the Dursleys, I'm just sooo well off aren't I?" They both laughed and left the train.Ron was waiting for them by the barrier and he smiled before apologising about his behaviour just now.Harry realised he was holding Sirius' letter.

It was still clutched tightly in his hand as he, Ron and Hermione stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters.Harry spotted Uncle Vernon at once.He was standing a good distance from Mrs Weasley, eyeing them suspiciously, and when Mrs Weasley hugged Harry in greeting, his worst suspicions about them seemed confirmed.

" I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron yelled after Harry, as Harry bid him and Hermione goodbye, then wheeled the trolley bearing his trunk and Hedwig's cage towards Uncle Vernon, who greeted him in usual fashion…

**THE END**

**_Or Is It?_**

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_(Green_Pig:- Rememeber, if you want to hear more about Crookshanks' real self, what he thought during his time sneaking out and conferring with Sirius then Review and tell me!!! I am desperate for reviews!!! Byeeeeeeee!)_

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